The hour is nearly upon us. It’s almost time to preorder a Nintendo Switch 2.

With most U.S. retailers set to finally push preorders live at midnight ET on April 24, the priority for most Switch enthusiasts will surely be grabbing one during this first wave. However, let’s collectively resign ourselves to the very real possibility that the Switch 2 is going to sell out.

Earlier today, Nintendo issued an apology when interest in the Japanese preorder far exceeded the available supply. In Japan alone, Nintendo said that 2.2 million people applied to preorder the Switch 2 from the My Nintendo Store lottery. That doesn’t bode well for American gamers, unfortunately.

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Why might the Switch 2 preorder sell out?

If you don’t recall, the last time there was a big console launch with the PlayStation 5, global supply shortages made it nearly impossible to get one unless you got incredibly lucky, and for an inordinately long time. Now, to be fair, COVID-19 played a huge role in that, but it’s not like the Nintendo Switch 2 is launching in ideal conditions either, thanks to President Donald Trump’s tariffs and an escalating trade war with China. We asked the big retailers (Walmart, Best Buy, Target) how they planned to cope with potential price gougers eager to snap up supplies of the Switch 2, but have yet to hear back.

So, if your retailers of choice don’t work out (and the direct-from-Nintendo option doesn’t pan out either), you don’t need to panic. There will inevitably be more chances to preorder a Switch 2, or even buy one after launch.

There’s no telling what the Switch 2 purchasing ecosystem will look like over the next several weeks; it may be tough to get your hands on one. But if you follow these tried-and-true steps for tracking stock online, you can put yourself in a better position to snag a Switch 2 than the average person if it sells out.

How to track Switch 2 restocks online

Be warned: This is more of an art than a science. But with these tactics, you can at least know when Switch 2 consoles are available, if nothing else.

Switch 2 restocks from retailers themselves

One very quick and simple thing you can do is go to the store pages for retailers like Walmart and GameStop right now, before preorders start, and sign up for stock alerts straight from the source. Those two retailers in particular have prompts on the right side of the store page offering to let you know when stock is available if you give them your email address.

I should note that I’ve had spotty luck with this feature in the past. It perhaps isn’t the most reliable way to track restocks, but it’s one of many options to have in your back pocket.

From stock tracking websites

There are various websites that track retail stock in an easy-to-navigate manner. One such site is Restock Tracker, which straightforwardly lists which console models (regular or Mario Kart bundle, in this case) are available at which retailers. You can sign up for email alerts if you feel like making an account, too. I should note that I haven’t personally used this particular site before, as I tend to rely on social media for restock alerts, but it looks like it should work okay for this purpose.

From social media accounts

Speaking of social media, I’ve found that this is (perhaps sadly) the easiest way to keep on top of which consoles are available where. I know, I know — we all want to stop doomscrolling through our feeds. But for Nintendo Switch gamers, you’re going to have to do it some more.

Thankfully, there’s a whole cottage industry of folks out there who meticulously track things like console sales and deals, and post them to X and BlueSky. Specifically for Switch 2 purposes, Jake Randall and Matt Swider on X should serve your needs, and both have hundreds of thousands of followers, if that somehow proves their legitimacy to you.

My personal favorite social media account for this sort of thing is Wario64, who can be found on X and BlueSky. The enigmatic operator of this account tracks all kinds of stock alerts and deals across mostly the world of gaming, but they also dabble in tech and other pop culture things, too. Wario64’s reach can definitely be a little broad if you want to turn on post alerts for an account to find Switch 2 restocks, but I would also say that this account is how I got both a PS5 and Xbox Series X when those two consoles were hard to come by in 2020. It is not an exaggeration to say that this is one of the most important social media accounts in my life right now.

And if all else fails, you can try smashing the refresh button at your go-to retailer when preorders go live at midnight tonight. Good luck.